Stock Market Today: Sensex Ends The Week At Five-Month High

Overseas investors remained net buyers of Indian equities for the twelfth day in a row on Friday, marking their longest buying spree so far in 2023.

Foreign portfolio investors mopped up equities worth Rs 1,014.1 crore, according to data from the National Stock Exchange.

Domestic institutional investors remained sellers for a third day, and sold stocks worth Rs 922.2 crore, the NSE data showed.

Foreign institutions have remained net sellers and have offloaded Rs 31,567.7 crore worth of stocks so far in 2023.

The yield on 10-year bond declined 3 basis points to close at 6.99% on Friday. It had closed at 7.02% on Thursday.

Source: Bloomberg

• The local currency depreciated by 8 paise to close at 82.17 against the greenback on Friday.

• The local currency closed at 82.09 on Thursday.

Source: Bloomberg

Indian equity benchmarks retracted early losses to end marginally higher in trade on Friday. While metal, energy and media sectors declined through the day, banking and automotive shares advanced. The headline indices advanced in trade this week. The S&P BSE Sensex Index rose above 62,000-mark in the last leg of trade, to end at the highest level in over five months since Dec. 14, 2022.

Asian markets ended the day on a mixed note. European markets rose, with a boost from earnings as luxury group Richemont rallied to a record following estimates-beating results.

The Swiss luxury goods maker that owns the Cartier brand said sales in China rebounded following the end of Covid Zero policies. U.S. futures contracts on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 posted modest gains.

The S&P 500 slid on Thursday after jobs and inflation data while the Nasdaq 100 gained. Alphabet Inc. buoyed the tech-heavy benchmark after the Google parent company showcased its artificial intelligence tools. News Corp. shares jumped 4.7% in postmarket trading after third quarter results topped analysts’ estimates.

Globally, stock markets have seesawed this week on mixed U.S. economic data and ongoing worries about the debt ceiling. While tech stocks have continued to outperform, with the Nasdaq 100 Index climbing 1% so far this week, there’s plenty of skepticism about the industry.

The S&P BSE Sensex Index closed up 123 points or 0.20% at 62,027.90 while the NSE Nifty 50 Index was higher by 18 points or 0.10% at 18,314.80.

HDFC Bank Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Eicher Motors Ltd., and Hindustan Unilever Ltd. were positively contributing to the change in the Nifty 50 Index.

Whereas, Infosys Ltd., Larsen and Toubro Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd., Power Grid Corp of India Ltd., and NTPC Ltd. were negatively adding to the change.

The headline indices advanced this week. Sensex logged weekly gains of 1.59%, whereas Nifty advanced 1.36%.

Last week, the indices ended largely unchanged and mixed in trade. The S&P BSE Sensex Index was down 0.10%, and the NSE Nifty 50 Index was higher by 0.02%.

Sectorally, Nifty Auto Index and Nifty Bank Index led the pack this week, while Nifty PSU Bank Index was the worst performer of the week.

The broader market declined and underperformed the larger peers; the S&P BSE MidCap Index was down 0.33%, whereas S&P BSE SmallCap Index was lower by 0.08%.

Fourteen out of the 20 sectors compiled by BSE declined, while six advanced in trade.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the sellers. About 1654 stocks rose 1,610 declined, and 154 remained unchanged on the BSE.

• Revenue up 9% at Rs 5,739 crore Vs Rs 5,260 crore (BBG estimate : Rs 5,776 crore)

• Net profit up 45% to Rs 526 crore Vs Rs 362 crore (BBG estimate : Rs 751 crore Profit)

• EBITDA up 57% to Rs 1,174 crore from Rs 750 crore (BBG estimate : Rs 1,233 crore Profit)

• Margins at 20.5% Vs 14.3% (BBG estimate : 21.4%)

Source: Exchange filing